Description
Book SynopsisPrevious scholarship hints at the connection between Judges 19–21 and Ruth (as set in dialogue), but there has yet to be a study to articulate this relationship. Through a Bakhtinian-canonical perspective, a comparative analysis of these texts unveils intertextual correlations. Lexical and thematic connections include shared idioms, contrasting themes of חרם (“ban”) andחסד (“loving–kindness,” “covenant–faithfulness”), silence and speech, abuse and potential for abuse, gendered violence and feminine agency. This case-study reveals that Ruth, as a text and as a woman, embodies a voice of answerability to the silenced and abused women in Judges 19–21
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments List of Figures and Tables 1 Introduction Judges 19–21 and Ruth in Canonical Dialogue Canon and Answerability Reading Silence Outline of the Book 2 The Answerability of Canon A Voice for the Voiceless in Judges 19–21 The Polyphonic Nature of Canon On the Quest for a Voice: Discovering the Utterance The Chronotopes Canon as a Voice of Answerability The Use of נתח as a Voice of Canonical Answerability Conclusion 3 Judges 19–21 as a Dialogic משל Understanding Judges 19–21 as a Dialogic משל Bakhtin’s Voice in the Dialogue of Genre Dialogic משל To “I.D.” a Body of Literature: An Unfinalized Threshold The Instrument of Dismemberment: המאכלת Thresholds: סף and מפתן Conclusion 4 Haunted Dialogue Utterances of the Mute and Mutilated (Judges 20 and 21) If There Was “No King in Israel,” Who Is in Charge? Not a King but Acting Like One The Account of this Evil The Reported Speech of the Levite The Woman, the One Slain Unity at Mizpah Sons of Worthlessness—My Brother? Name-Dropping as Theological-Political Symbols: The Ark of the Covenant of God and Phinehas Mizpah: Oaths and Weeping Conclusion 5 חרם in Canonical Dialogue Thresholds of No Return: חרם חרם as a Function of Grotesque Realism Achan and Rahab: Who is Truly חרם in Joshua? Narrative Setting חרם: Why All the Fuss? Canonical Answerability for the Silent? Conclusion 6 Ruth’s Chronotope in the Canon Ruth as a Traveling Text Ruth as a Threshold Text Dating of Ruth Ruth’s Chronotope in the Canons Form, Function, and the Dialogic Nature of Genre Previous Scholarship on the Genre of Ruth A New Way Forward: Ruth’s Function as a Dialogic משל Ruth as a Dialogic משל and a Voice of Canonical Answerability Answerability as a Feature of the Dialogism: Ruth and Tamar Conclusion 7 The Answerability of Borders and Identity Ruth 1: The Dialogical Nature of Names Women in Relational Answerability: Naomi, Orpah and Ruth (Ruth 1) The Chronotope of Borders: Between and in between Moab and Bethlehem Borders of Ethnicity Naomi, Ruth and Orpah: Relational Answerability Naomi’s Lament Intertextual Utterances Conclusion 8 Chronotope Encounters in Ruth 2 and 3 Chronotopes of Field and Threshing Floor The Chronotope of Encounter Encounter with Boaz: A Dialogue of Identity Ruth’s Response: Speak to the Heart Canonical Answerability: Genesis 19 and Ruth 2 Chronotope of Encounter: The Threshing Floor Ruth 3:9 in Canonical Dialogue with the Torah: Violator or Creative Agent? Foreign Women in the Canonical Dialogue of Identity Conclusion 9 Progentitive Problems in Ruth 4 Progenitive Problems Answered by Purchased Possessions Chronotope of Encounter: The City Gate Canonical Answerability for the Silent Ruth’s Loophole of Identity The Women of Bethlehem: A Voice of Answerability for Ruth and Naomi The Canonical Dialogue of חסד in Ruth Ruth Embodies חסד Towards Naomi The Dialogic Encounter of Law and Narrative Conclusion 10 Judges 19–21 and Ruth in Dialogue Ruth as a Voice of Canonical Answerability Ruth and Judges as a Dialogic משל Idioms in Dialogue: נשא אשה (Judges 21:23; Ruth 1:4) and דבר על־לב (Judges 19:3; Ruth 2:13) A Dialogue of Identity: The Women in Judges 19–21 and Ruth Oaths in Dialogue Ruth as the Reversal פילגש? Utterances of Identity and Alterity Conclusion: Earth-Keeping and People-Keeping Appendix: Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin, an Unfinalized Life: A Brief Biography and Story of His Honorary Doctorate from Yale University Bibliography Index of Scriptures Index of Subjects
